


The Art of Communication

by mdr_24601



Series: you're not alone at the table anymore [9]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - No Sparrow Academy (Umbrella Academy), Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Klaus Hargreeves-centric, No Incest, Post-Season/Series 02, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, The Mausoleum (Umbrella Academy), no beta we die like ben
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:08:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26606497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mdr_24601/pseuds/mdr_24601
Summary: Of all of the things the Hargreeves siblings are good at, communication is not one of them.But that doesn't mean Klaus can't make an effort. (Don't blame him; it was Ben's idea.)--In which Klaus and Five see each other in the middle of the night and decide to indulge in a rare moment of vulnerability.
Relationships: Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Klaus Hargreeves, The Hargreeves Family
Series: you're not alone at the table anymore [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1958572
Comments: 4
Kudos: 183





	The Art of Communication

It’s not like he meant for it to be a secret. Really, he hadn’t. But they never asked each other about special training. Not even Luther talked about it, which definitely said something. They just didn't talk about those things. 

Still, they really were trying to be a proper family. Ever since they stopped the apocalypse and returned to 2019 exactly as they intended to, Klaus really had been trying. 

“You should tell them,” Ben said, leaning against the kitchen counter one late night, about two weeks after their arrival from the 60s. Klaus turned to face him. 

“What good would that do?” he asked. Clutched in his hands were odds and ends of a midnight snack he’d assembled after a particularly unsettling nightmare. “The past is in the past. We have to live in the moment, Ben.”

“Is it really in the past if you’ve just had another nightmare about it?” Ben raised his eyebrows and Klaus sighed. Ben had always been smart like that. It was nice when he was alive, but death was a whole other story, especially when he followed Klaus around. 

“Ugh, fine,” he groaned, not bothering to soften his voice. His lovely siblings had long since gotten used to him talking to himself at odd hours of the night, which, now that he thought about it, was weird. Didn’t they remember that he saw and communicated with ghosts?

“Klaus.”

Ben was staring at him, again, for whatever reason. “What?” Klaus asked defensively. “You want me to wake up our dear family in the middle of the night? _Oh, hey everyone, let’s just have a nice midnight talk about how Reggie fucked us up_?”

Before Ben could respond, his vision was obscured by a flash of blue, and Klaus squinted.

“Wow, it worked!” he laughed, clapping his hands softly. Beside him, Ben rolled his eyes. 

“Klaus?” The voice belonged to Five, because who else would be teleporting into the kitchen in the middle of the night? “What are you doing here?”

“Having a snack,” he said simply. “The real question is, what are you doing here? Growing boys need their sleep, Fivey.”

Five snarled at him, but otherwise ignored his joke. Shame. He thought it was funny. “If you must know, I’ve been up working on equations to fix the shit we messed up, yet again.”

“Five,” Klaus said softly. “There’s nothing to fix. We stopped the apocalypse, remember? All better.”

“It is not all better,” his older-younger brother hissed, expression feral. “Something’s coming, I know it, I just need to figure out what.”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay.” Klaus rested his hands on his brother’s shoulders, and Five jerked away. 

“You never told me what you’re really doing down here,” his brother said instead, eyes narrowed. Klaus shrugged. 

“Oh, you know,” he said breathlessly, “just getting a snack.”

“Bullshit.”

Ben was at his side again. “Tell him, Klaus. You can do it. You just need to tell someone.”

“Shut up, Ben,” he muttered under his breath. Five’s eyebrows furrowed. 

“Fine, don’t talk to me. You can just go back to your,” he eyed the miscellaneous items spread on the table with disdain, “snack, and I’ll leave you here.”

“Klaus,” Ben urged quietly. If he had taken a shot every time Ben said his name in a day, he might’ve died of alcohol poisoning. 

“Fine, just be _quiet_ ,” Klaus hissed to Ben. Five turned back around, eyes narrowed as always. Didn’t his face ever hurt from frowning so much?

“I had a nightmare,” he told Five. “No biggie.”

Five only poured himself a coffee and sat down at the table. He waited a beat of silence before speaking up again. “About what?”

“Oh, you know I’ve got a lot to choose from. Reggie, Vietnam, Dave, being kidnapped by your friends—”

“Get to the point,” Five said, exasperated. Klaus heaved a sigh, and Ben leaned forward with tense anticipation. 

“The mausoleum,” he said quietly. The words, of course, meant nothing to Five, because nobody knew what everyone else’s special training had been. Nobody ever talked about it, because it was a touchy subject for everyone.

Even the mention of the place made him shiver, the screams still ringing in his ears, calling his name no matter how many times he told them that he couldn’t help them. His hair was still damp with sweat that he tried to ignore, and he wanted nothing more than to submerge himself in hot bath water until the water clogged his ears and the ghosts were silent. 

“The one near the house?” Five asked, sipping his coffee. “What has that got to do with anything?”

Klaus waited a moment as he tried to speak around the sudden lump around his throat. “It was my special training. Dad used to lock me up there to face my fear of the ghosts. Which makes no sense, really, when you think about it, but I guess dear old Dad wasn't equipped to raise seven children.”

His brother flinched, and something akin to horror flickered across his face. “How long?” he asked, voice grave. 

“Since I was eight.”

“Shit.” A never ending moment of silence then, “How did we never notice?”

Klaus shrugged. “We all had special training, except for Vanya. I guess we all just thought it was Reggie being Reggie.”

Five stood up and massaged his temples with his fingers, as if trying to massage away a splitting headache. He didn’t say anything, which wasn’t like Five at all, so Ben spoke up. 

“Good job,” he said softly, a smile flickering on his face. “That was the first step.”

“First step?” Klaus cried indignantly. “I thought that was the only step! What do you want us to do, sit in a circle and talk about our feelings? Diego would love that.”

Five’s head snapped up. “What?”

Klaus paid him no attention. Ben sighed. “No, but I think it would be good for all of you to talk about it. So you don’t feel so alone.”

“Since when did you become my therapist?” he pouted. 

“Since I watched you all destroy yourselves. Please, Klaus? If not for you, then for me.”

“Fine,” he groaned, sinking tiredly into a kitchen chair. Five’s eyes were focused intently on him, in a way that was a little creepy. 

“What was that? Who are you talking to?”

“Oh, Ben wants us all to talk about special training,” Klaus explained, bored already. “Says it’ll help us feel less alone.”

“Ben said that? You talked to Ben?” Five leaned across the table eagerly. “He’s still here?”

“Yeah, he follows me around everywhere. Bit creepy, really.” Ben sighed and rolled his eyes. 

Five leaned back and sighed heavily. “So, he wants us to talk, huh? Well, count me out. I have work to do.”

“You’re staying,” Ben said directly to Five. “You’re a part of the family, too.”

Klaus internally groaned at having to play translator. “Ben says that you have to stay and talk, too.”

“Tell him that he’s a part of the family,” Ben pressed. Klaus rolled his eyes. 

“Okay, okay, I will.” Turning to Five again, he said, “And he says that you’re a part of the family, too.”

Five sighed, disgruntled. “Fine, then we’d best make it quick. I don’t imagine anyone else will be keen on the idea, either.” Klaus tried to imagine Diego or Luther being vulnerable, and had to agree. The thought made him giggle. 

“Maybe we should all just get a therapist or something. Like we’d all sit in one big group and talk about training or whatever.” He laughed again, all air-like and breathy.

“While you entertain those fantasies,” Five began, standing up and taking his coffee with him. “I’ll be upstairs. Goodnight.” He paused in his steps, hesitated, then said to the empty air, “Goodnight, Ben.”

Ben’s jaw dropped open a little and Klaus thought he’d cry if he was physically able. “Goodnight, Five.”

“He says goodnight,” Klaus called to Five’s retreating form, but he was too far gone to hear. 

At breakfast the next morning, Ben would whisper in his ear, he would nudge Five’s foot from under the table, and they would call a family meeting. 

**Author's Note:**

> I've never written anything for this fandom before, so I hope this turned out okay! I really wanted to capture their voices so this was a bit of a challenge, but I'd love to know what you all think. This was an impulsive decision to write and post but I enjoyed it, so I hope you all did too. 
> 
> I really appreciate comments and I’d love to hear your thoughts!
> 
> Thanks for reading! <3


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